but I should hasten to welcome my honored husband best on his return. For what joy is sweeter in a woman’s eyes than to unbar the gates for her husband when God has spared him to return from war? Give this message to my husband:
ὅπως δʼ ἄριστα τὸν ἐμὸν αἰδοῖον πόσινσπεύσω πάλιν μολόντα δέξασθαι·—τί γὰργυναικὶ τούτου φέγγος ἥδιον δρακεῖν,ἀπὸ στρατείας ἀνδρὶ σώσαντος θεοῦπύλας ἀνοῖξαι;—ταῦτʼ ἀπάγγειλον πόσει·
let him come with all speed, his country’s fond desire, come to find at home his wife faithful, even as he left her, a watchdog of his house, loyal to him, a foe to those who wish him ill; yes, for the rest, unchanged in every part;in all this length of time never having broken any seal. Of pleasure from any other man or of scandalous repute I know no more than of dyeing bronze. ExitHerald:A boast like this, loaded full with truth, does not shame the speech of a noble wife.
ἥκειν ὅπως τάχιστʼ ἐράσμιον πόλει·γυναῖκα πιστὴν δʼ ἐν δόμοις εὕροι μολὼνοἵαν περ οὖν ἔλειπε, δωμάτων κύναἐσθλὴν ἐκείνῳ, πολεμίαν τοῖς δύσφροσιν,καὶ τἄλλʼ ὁμοίαν πάντα, σημαντήριονοὐδὲν διαφθείρασαν ἐν μήκει χρόνου.οὐδʼ οἶδα τέρψιν οὐδʼ ἐπίψογον φάτινἄλλου πρὸς ἀνδρὸς μᾶλλον ἢ χαλκοῦ βαφάς.Κῆρυξ:τοιόσδʼ ὁ κόμπος τῆς ἀληθείας γέμωνοὐκ αἰσχρὸς ὡς γυναικὶ γενναίᾳ λακεῖν.
Chorus:Thus has she spoken for your schooling, but speciously for those that can interpret right. But, Herald, say—I want to hear of Menelaus. Has he, our land’s dear lord, travelled safe home and has he returned with you?
Χορός:αὕτη μὲν οὕτως εἶπε μανθάνοντί σοιτοροῖσιν ἑρμηνεῦσιν εὐπρεπῶς λόγον.σὺ δʼ εἰπέ, κῆρυξ, Μενέλεων δὲ πεύθομαι.εἰ νόστιμός τε καὶ σεσωσμένος πάλινἥκει σὺν ὑμῖν, τῆσδε γῆς φίλον κράτος.
Herald:It would be impossible to report false news so fair that those I love should take pleasure for long.
Κῆρυξ:οὐκ ἔσθʼ ὅπως λέξαιμι τὰ ψευδῆ καλὰἐς τὸν πολὺν φίλοισι καρποῦσθαι χρόνον.
Chorus:Oh if only you could tell tidings true yet good! It is not easy to conceal when true and good are split apart.
Χορός:πῶς δῆτʼ ἂν εἰπὼν κεδνὰ τἀληθῆ τύχοις;σχισθέντα δʼ οὐκ εὔκρυπτα γίγνεται τάδε.
Herald:The prince was swept from the sight of the Achaean host,himself, and his ship likewise. I speak no lies.
Κῆρυξ:ἁνὴρ ἄφαντος ἐξ Ἀχαιικοῦ στρατοῦ,αὐτός τε καὶ τὸ πλοῖον. οὐ ψευδῆ λέγω.
Chorus:Did he put forth in sight of all from Ilium, or did a storm, distressing all in common, snatch him from the fleet?
Χορός:πότερον ἀναχθεὶς ἐμφανῶς ἐξ Ἰλίου,ἢ χεῖμα, κοινὸν ἄχθος, ἥρπασε στρατοῦ;
Herald:Like a master bowman you have hit the mark; a long tale of distress have you told in brief.
Κῆρυξ:ἔκυρσας ὥστε τοξότης ἄκρος σκοποῦ·μακρὸν δὲ πῆμα συντόμως ἐφημίσω.
Chorus:Did the general voice of other voyagers bring news of him as alive or dead?
Χορός:πότερα γὰρ αὐτοῦ ζῶντος ἢ τεθνηκότοςφάτις πρὸς ἄλλων ναυτίλων ἐκλῄζετο;
Herald:None knows to give clear report of this—except only the Sun that fosters life upon the earth.
Κῆρυξ:οὐκ οἶδεν οὐδεὶς ὥστʼ ἀπαγγεῖλαι τορῶς,πλὴν τοῦ τρέφοντος Ἡλίου χθονὸς φύσιν.
Chorus:How then do you sayrose the storm by the wrath of the gods upon the naval host and passed away?
Χορός:πῶς γὰρ λέγεις χειμῶνα ναυτικῷ στρατῷἐλθεῖν τελευτῆσαί τε δαιμόνων κότῳ;
Herald:An auspicious day one should not mar with a tale of misfortune—the honor due to the gods keeps them apart. When a messenger with gloomy countenance reports to a people dire disaster of its army’s rout—one common wound inflicted on the State, while from many a home many a victim is devoted to death by the two-handled whip beloved of Ares, destruction double-armed, a gory pair—when, I say, he is packed with woes like this,he should sing the triumph-song of the Avenging Spirits. But when one comes with glad news of deliverance to a city rejoicing in its happiness—how shall I mix fair with foul in telling of the storm, not unprovoked by the gods’ wrath, that broke upon the Achaeans?
Κῆρυξ:εὔφημον ἦμαρ οὐ πρέπει κακαγγέλῳγλώσσῃ μιαίνειν· χωρὶς ἡ τιμὴ θεῶν.ὅταν δʼ ἀπευκτὰ πήματʼ ἄγγελος πόλειστυγνῷ προσώπῳ πτωσίμου στρατοῦ φέρῃ,πόλει μὲν ἕλκος ἓν τὸ δήμιον τυχεῖν,πολλοὺς δὲ πολλῶν ἐξαγισθέντας δόμωνἄνδρας διπλῇ μάστιγι, τὴν Ἄρης φιλεῖ,δίλογχον ἄτην, φοινίαν ξυνωρίδα·τοιῶνδε μέντοι πημάτων σεσαγμένονπρέπει λέγειν παιᾶνα τόνδʼ Ἐρινύων.σωτηρίων δὲ πραγμάτων εὐάγγελονἥκοντα πρὸς χαίρουσαν εὐεστοῖ πόλιν,πῶς κεδνὰ τοῖς κακοῖσι συμμείξω, λέγωνχειμῶνʼ Ἀχαιοῖς οὐκ ἀμήνιτον θεῶν;
For fire and sea, beforehand bitterest of foes, swore alliance and as proof destroyed the unhappy Argive army. In the night-time arose the mischief from the cruel swells. Beneath blasts from Thrace ship dashed against ship;and they, gored violently by the furious hurricane and rush of pelting rain, were swept out of sight by the whirling gust of an evil shepherd. But when the radiant light of the sun rose we beheld the Aegean flowering with corpsesof Achaean men and wreckage of ships. Ourselves, however, and our ship, its hull unshattered, some power, divine not human, preserved by stealth or intercession, laying hand upon its helm; and Savior Fortune chose to sit aboard our craftso that it should neither take in the swelling surf at anchorage nor drive upon a rock-bound coast. Then, having escaped death upon the deep, in the clear bright day, scarce crediting our fortune, we brooded in anxious thought over our late mischance,our fleet distressed and sorely buffeted. So now, if any of them still draw the breath of life, they speak of us as lost—and why should they not? We think the same of them. But may all turn out for the best! For Menelaus, indeed;first and foremost expect him to return. At least if some beam of the sun finds him alive and well, by the design of Zeus, who has not yet decided utterly to destroy the race, there is some hope that he will come home again.
ξυνώμοσαν γάρ, ὄντες ἔχθιστοι τὸ πρίν,πῦρ καὶ θάλασσα, καὶ τὰ πίστʼ ἐδειξάτηνφθείροντε τὸν δύστηνον Ἀργείων στρατόν.ἐν νυκτὶ δυσκύμαντα δʼ ὠρώρει κακά.ναῦς γὰρ πρὸς ἀλλήλαισι Θρῄκιαι πνοαὶἤρεικον· αἱ δὲ κεροτυπούμεναι βίᾳχειμῶνι τυφῶ σὺν ζάλῃ τʼ ὀμβροκτύπῳᾤχοντʼ ἄφαντοι ποιμένος κακοῦ στρόβῳ.ἐπεὶ δʼ ἀνῆλθε λαμπρὸν ἡλίου φάος,ὁρῶμεν ἀνθοῦν πέλαγος Αἰγαῖον νεκροῖςἀνδρῶν Ἀχαιῶν ναυτικοῖς τʼ ἐρειπίοις.ἡμᾶς γε μὲν δὴ ναῦν τʼ ἀκήρατον σκάφοςἤτοι τις ἐξέκλεψεν ἢ ʼξῃτήσατοθεός τις, οὐκ ἄνθρωπος, οἴακος θιγών.τύχη δὲ σωτὴρ ναῦν θέλουσʼ ἐφέζετο,ὡς μήτʼ ἐν ὅρμῳ κύματος ζάλην ἔχεινμήτʼ ἐξοκεῖλαι πρὸς κραταίλεων χθόνα.ἔπειτα δʼ Ἅιδην πόντιον πεφευγότες,λευκὸν κατʼ ἦμαρ, οὐ πεποιθότες τύχῃ,ἐβουκολοῦμεν φροντίσιν νέον πάθος,στρατοῦ καμόντος καὶ κακῶς σποδουμένου.καὶ νῦν ἐκείνων εἴ τίς ἐστιν ἐμπνέων,λέγουσιν ἡμᾶς ὡς ὀλωλότας, τί μή;ἡμεῖς τʼ ἐκείνους ταὔτʼ ἔχειν δοξάζομεν.γένοιτο δʼ ὡς ἄριστα. Μενέλεων γὰρ οὖνπρῶτόν τε καὶ μάλιστα προσδόκα μολεῖν.εἰ γοῦν τις ἀκτὶς ἡλίου νιν ἱστορεῖκαὶ ζῶντα καὶ βλέποντα, μηχαναῖς Διός,οὔπω θέλοντος ἐξαναλῶσαι γένος,ἐλπίς τις αὐτὸν πρὸς δόμους ἥξειν πάλιν.
Hearing so much, be assured that you hear the truth. ExitChorus:Who can have given a name so altogether true—was it some power invisible guiding his tongue aright by forecasting of destiny?—who named that bride of the spear and source of strife with the name of Helen? For, true to her name, a Hell she proved to ships, Hell to men, Hell to city,when stepping forth from her delicate and costly-curtained bower, she sailed the sea before the breath of earth-born Zephyrus. And after her a goodly host of warriorhuntsmen followed on the oars’ vanished track in pursuit of a quarry that had beached its boat on Simois’ leafy banks—in a strife to end in blood.
τοσαῦτʼ ἀκούσας ἴσθι τἀληθῆ κλύων.Χορός:τίς ποτʼ ὠνόμαζεν ὧδʼἐς τὸ πᾶν ἐτητύμως—μή τις ὅντινʼ οὐχ ὁρῶμεν προνοί-αισι τοῦ πεπρωμένουγλῶσσαν ἐν τύχᾳ νέμων;—τὰν δορίγαμβρον ἀμφινει-κῆ θʼ Ἑλέναν; ἐπεὶ πρεπόντωςἑλένας, ἕλανδρος, ἑλέ-πτολις, ἐκ τῶν ἁβροτίμωνπροκαλυμμάτων ἔπλευσεζεφύρου γίγαντος αὔρᾳ,πολύανδροί τε φεράσπιδες κυναγοὶκατʼ ἴχνος πλατᾶν ἄφαντονκελσάντων Σιμόεντος ἀ-κτὰς ἐπʼ ἀεξιφύλλουςδιʼ ἔριν αἱματόεσσαν.
Chorus:To Ilium, its purpose fulfilling,Wrath brought a marriage rightly named a mourning, exacting in later time requital for the dishonor done to hospitality and to Zeus, the partaker of the hearth,upon those who with loud voice celebrated the song in honor of the bride, even the bridegroom’s kin to whom it fell that day to raise the marriage-hymn.But Priam’s city has learned, in her old age, an altered strain, and now, I trust, wails a loud song, full of lamentation, calling Paris “evil-wed”; for she has born the burden of a life in which everything was destroyed, a life full of lamentation because ofthe wretched slaughter of her sons
Χορός:Ἰλίῳ δὲ κῆδος ὀρθ-ώνυμον τελεσσίφρωνμῆνις ἤλασεν, τραπέζας ἀτί-μωσιν ὑστέρῳ χρόνῳκαὶ ξυνεστίου Διὸςπρασσομένα τὸ νυμφότι-μον μέλος ἐκφάτως τίοντας,ὑμέναιον, ὃς τότʼ ἐπέρ-ρεπεν γαμβροῖσιν ἀείδειν·μεταμανθάνουσα δʼ ὕμνονΠριάμου πόλις γεραιὰπολύθρηνον μέγα που στένει κικλήσκου-σα Πάριν τὸν αἰνόλεκτρον,παμπορθῆ πολύθρηνοναἰῶνα διαὶ πολιτᾶνμέλεον αἷμʼ ἀνατλᾶσα.
Chorus:Even so a man reared in his house a lion’s whelp, robbed of its mother’s milk yet still desiring the breast. Gentle it wasin the prelude of its life, kindly to children, and a delight to the old. Much did it get, held in arms like a nursling child, with itsbright eye turned toward his hand, and fawning under compulsion of its belly’s need.
Χορός:ἔθρεψεν δὲ λέοντος ἶ-νιν δόμοις ἀγάλακτον οὕ-τως ἀνὴρ φιλόμαστον,ἐν βιότου προτελείοιςἅμερον, εὐφιλόπαιδακαὶ γεραροῖς ἐπίχαρτον.πολέα δʼ ἔσχʼ ἐν ἀγκάλαιςνεοτρόφου τέκνου δίκαν,φαιδρωπὸς ποτὶ χεῖρα σαί-νων τε γαστρὸς ἀνάγκαις.
Chorus:But brought to full growth by time it showed the nature it had from its parents. Unbidden, as payment for its fostering,it prepared a feast with ruinous slaughter of the flocks; so that the house was defiled with blood, and whose who lived there could not control their anguish, and great was the carnage far and wide.
Χορός:χρονισθεὶς δʼ ἀπέδειξεν ἦ-θος τὸ πρὸς τοκέων· χάρινγὰρ τροφεῦσιν ἀμείβωνμηλοφόνοισιν ⟨ἐν⟩ ἄταιςδαῖτʼ ἀκέλευστος ἔτευξεν·αἵματι δʼ οἶκος ἐφύρθη,ἄμαχον ἄλγος οἰκέταιςμέγα σίνος πολυκτόνον.
A priest of ruin, by order of a god, it was reared in the house.
ἐκ θεοῦ δʼ ἱερεύς τις ἄ-τας δόμοις προσεθρέφθη.
Chorus:At first, I would say, there came to Ilium the spirit of unruffled calm,a delicate ornament of wealth, a darter of soft glances from the eye, love’s flower that stings the heart. Then, swerving from her course, she broughther marriage to a bitter end, sped on to the children of Priam under escort of Zeus, the warder of host and guest, ruining her sojourn and her companions, a vengeful Fury who brought tears to brides.
Χορός:πάραυτα δʼ ἐλθεῖν ἐς Ἰλίου πόλινλέγοιμʼ ἂν φρόνημα μὲννηνέμου γαλάνας,ἀκασκαῖον ⟨δʼ⟩ ἄγαλμα πλούτου,μαλθακὸν ὀμμάτων βέλος,δηξίθυμον ἔρωτος ἄνθος.παρακλίνασʼ ἐπέκρανενδὲ γάμου πικρὰς τελευτάς,δύσεδρος καὶ δυσόμιλοςσυμένα Πριαμίδαισιν,πομπᾷ Διὸς ξενίου,νυμφόκλαυτος Ἐρινύς.
Chorus:A venerable utterance proclaimed of old has been fashioned among mankind: the prosperity of man, when it has come to full growth, engenders offspring and does not die childless,and from his good fortune there springs up insatiable misery. But I hold my own mind and think apart from other men. It is the evil deed that afterwards begets more iniquitylike its own breed; but when a house is righteous, the lot of its children is blessed always.
Χορός:παλαίφατος δʼ ἐν βροτοῖς γέρων λόγοςτέτυκται, μέγαν τελε-σθέντα φωτὸς ὄλβοντεκνοῦσθαι μηδʼ ἄπαιδα θνῄσκειν,ἐκ δʼ ἀγαθᾶς τύχας γένειβλαστάνειν ἀκόρεστον οἰζύν.δίχα δʼ ἄλλων μονόφρων εἰ-μί· τὸ δυσσεβὲς γὰρ ἔργονμετὰ μὲν πλείονα τίκτει,σφετέρᾳ δʼ εἰκότα γέννᾳ.οἴκων δʼ ἄρʼ εὐθυδίκωνκαλλίπαις πότμος αἰεί.
Chorus:But an old Hubris tends to bring forthin evil men, sooner or later, at the fated hour of birth, a young Hubris and that irresistible, unconquerable, unholy spirit, Recklessness,and for the household black Curses, which resemble their parents.
Χορός:φιλεῖ δὲ τίκτειν Ὕβριςμὲν παλαιὰ νεά-ζουσαν ἐν κακοῖς βροτῶνὕβριν τότʼ ἢ τόθʼ, ὅτε τὸ κύρ-ιον μόλῃ φάος τόκου,δαίμονά τε τὰν ἄμαχον ἀπόλεμ-ον, ἀνίερον Θράσος, μελαί-νας μελάθροισιν Ἄτας,εἰδομένας τοκεῦσιν.
Chorus:But Righteousness shines in smoke-begrimed dwellingsand esteems the virtuous man. From gilded mansions, where men’s hands are foul, she departs with averted eyes and makes her way to pure homes; she does not worship the powerof wealth stamped counterfeit by the praise of men, and she guides all things to their proper end.
Χορός:Δίκα δὲ λάμπει μὲν ἐνδυσκάπνοις δώμασιν,τὸν δʼ ἐναίσιμον τίει [βίον].τὰ χρυσόπαστα δʼ ἔδεθλα σὺνπίνῳ χερῶν παλιντρόποιςὄμμασι λιποῦσʼ, ὅσια προσέμολ-ε, δύναμιν οὐ σέβουσα πλού-του παράσημον αἴνῳ·πᾶν δʼ ἐπὶ τέρμα νωμᾷ.
Chorus:Enter Agamemnon and Cassandra, in a chariot, with a numerous retinue All hail, my King, sacker of Troy, off-spring of Atreus!How shall I greet you? How shall I do you homage, not overshooting or running short of the due measure of courtesy? Many of mortal men put appearance before truth and thereby transgress the right.
Χορός:ἄγε δή, βασιλεῦ, Τροίας πτολίπορθʼ,Ἀτρέως γένεθλον,πῶς σε προσείπω; πῶς σε σεβίζωμήθʼ ὑπεράρας μήθʼ ὑποκάμψαςκαιρὸν χάριτος;πολλοὶ δὲ βροτῶν τὸ δοκεῖν εἶναιπροτίουσι δίκην παραβάντες.
Every one is ready to heave a sigh over the unfortunate, but no sting of true sorrow reaches the heart; and in seeming sympathy they join in others’ joy, forcing their faces into smiles.
τῷ δυσπραγοῦντι δʼ ἐπιστενάχεινπᾶς τις ἕτοιμος· δῆγμα δὲ λύπηςοὐδὲν ἐφʼ ἧπαρ προσικνεῖται·καὶ ξυγχαίρουσιν ὁμοιοπρεπεῖςἀγέλαστα πρόσωπα βιαζόμενοι.
But whoever is a discerning shepherd of his flock cannot be deceived by men’s eyes which, while they feign loyalty of heart, only fawn upon him with watery affection. Now in the past, when you marshaled the army in Helen’s cause,you were depicted in my eyes (for I will not hide it from you) most ungracefully and as not rightly guiding the helm of your mind in seeking through your sacrifices to bring courage to dying men.
ὅστις δʼ ἀγαθὸς προβατογνώμων,οὐκ ἔστι λαθεῖν ὄμματα φωτός,τὰ δοκοῦντʼ εὔφρονος ἐκ διανοίαςὑδαρεῖ σαίνειν φιλότητι.σὺ δέ μοι τότε μὲν στέλλων στρατιὰνἙλένης ἕνεκʼ, οὐ γάρ ⟨σʼ⟩ ἐπικεύσω,κάρτʼ ἀπομούσως ἦσθα γεγραμμένος,οὐδʼ εὖ πραπίδων οἴακα νέμωνθράσος ἐκ θυσιῶνἀνδράσι θνῄσκουσι κομίζων.
But now, from the depth of my heart and with no lack of love … their toil is joy to those who have won success. In course of time you shall learn by enquiry who of your people has been an honest, and who an unfitting guardian of the State.
νῦν δʼ οὐκ ἀπʼ ἄκρας φρενὸς οὐδʼ ἀφίλως…εὔφρων πόνος εὖ τελέσασιν.γνώσῃ δὲ χρόνῳ διαπευθόμενοςτόν τε δικαίως καὶ τὸν ἀκαίρως πόλιν οἰκουροῦντα πολιτῶν.
Agamemnon:Argos first, as is right and proper, I greet, and her local gods who have helped me to my safe return and to the justice I exacted from Priam’s town. For listening to no pleadings by word of mouth, without dissenting voice, they cast into thebloody urn their ballots for the murderous destroying of Ilium; but to the urn of acquittal that no hand filled, Hope alone drew near. The smoke even now still declares the city’s fall. Destruction’s blasts still live, andthe embers, as they die, breathe forth rich fumes of wealth. For this success we should render to the gods a return in ever-mindful gratitude, seeing that we have thrown round the city the toils of vengeance, and in a woman’s cause it has been laid low by the fierce Argive beast,brood of the horse, a shield-armed folk, that launched its leap when the Pleiades waned. Vaulting over its towered walls, the ravening lion lapped up his fill of princely blood. For the gods then I have stretched out this prelude.
Ἀγαμέμνων:πρῶτον μὲν Ἄργος καὶ θεοὺς ἐγχωρίουςδίκη προσειπεῖν, τοὺς ἐμοὶ μεταιτίουςνόστου δικαίων θʼ ὧν ἐπραξάμην πόλινΠριάμου· δίκας γὰρ οὐκ ἀπὸ γλώσσης θεοὶκλύοντες ἀνδροθνῆτας Ἰλίου φθορὰςἐς αἱματηρὸν τεῦχος οὐ διχορρόπωςψήφους ἔθεντο· τῷ δʼ ἐναντίῳ κύτειἐλπὶς προσῄει χειρὸς οὐ πληρουμένῳ.καπνῷ δʼ ἁλοῦσα νῦν ἔτʼ εὔσημος πόλις.ἄτης θύελλαι ζῶσι· συνθνῄσκουσα δὲσποδὸς προπέμπει πίονας πλούτου πνοάς.τούτων θεοῖσι χρὴ πολύμνηστον χάριντίνειν, ἐπείπερ καὶ πάγας ὑπερκότουςἐφραξάμεσθα καὶ γυναικὸς οὕνεκαπόλιν διημάθυνεν Ἀργεῖον δάκος,ἵππου νεοσσός, ἀσπιδηφόρος λεώς,πήδημʼ ὀρούσας ἀμφὶ Πλειάδων δύσιν·ὑπερθορὼν δὲ πύργον ὠμηστὴς λέωνἄδην ἔλειξεν αἵματος τυραννικοῦ.θεοῖς μὲν ἐξέτεινα φροίμιον τόδε·
But, touching your sentiments—which I heard and still bear in memory—I both agree and you have in me an advocate. For few there are among men in whom it is inborn to admire without envy a friend’s good fortune. For the venom of malevolence settles upon the heart anddoubles the burden of him who suffers from that plague: he is himself weighed down by his own calamity, and groans to see another’s prosperity. From knowledge—for well I know the mirror of companionship—I may call a shadow of a shadethose who feigned exceeding loyalty to me. Only Odysseus, the very man who sailed against his will, once harnessed, proved my zealous yoke-fellow. This I affirm of him whether he is alive or dead. But, for the rest, in what concerns the State and public worship,we shall appoint open debates and consider. Where all goes well, we must take counsel so that it may long endure; but whenever there is need of healing remedy, we will by kind appliance of cautery or the knifeendeavor to avert the mischief of the disease. And now I will pass to my palace halls and to my household hearth, and first of all pay greeting to the gods. They who sent me forth have brought me home again. May victory, now that it has attended me, remain ever with me constant to the end! He descends from his chariot; enter Clytaemestra, attended by maidservants carrying purple tapestriesClytaemestra:Citizens of Argos, you Elders present here, I shall not be ashamed to confess in your presence my fondness for my husband—with time diffidence dies away in humans. Untaught by others, I can tell of my own weary lifeall the long while my husband was beneath Ilium’s walls. First and foremost, it is a terrible evil for a wife to sit forlorn at home, severed from her husband, always hearing many malignant rumors, and for one messenger after anotherto come bearing tidings of disaster, each worse than the last, and cry them to the household. And as for wounds, had my husband received so many as rumor kept pouring into the house, no net would have been pierced so full of holes as he. Or if he had died as often as reports claimed,then truly he might have had three bodies, a second Geryon, and have boasted of having taken on him a triple cloak of earth [ample that above, of that below I speak not], one death for each different shape. Because of such malignant tales as these,many times others have had to loose the high-hung halter from my neck, held in its strong grip. It is for this reason, in fact, that our boy, Orestes, does not stand here beside me, as he should—he in whom rest the pledges of my love and yours. Nor should you think this strange.
τὰ δʼ ἐς τὸ σὸν φρόνημα, μέμνημαι κλύων,καὶ φημὶ ταὐτὰ καὶ συνήγορόν μʼ ἔχεις.παύροις γὰρ ἀνδρῶν ἐστι συγγενὲς τόδε,φίλον τὸν εὐτυχοῦντʼ ἄνευ φθόνου σέβειν.δύσφρων γὰρ ἰὸς καρδίαν προσήμενοςἄχθος διπλοίζει τῷ πεπαμένῳ νόσον,τοῖς τʼ αὐτὸς αὑτοῦ πήμασιν βαρύνεταικαὶ τὸν θυραῖον ὄλβον εἰσορῶν στένει.εἰδὼς λέγοιμʼ ἄν, εὖ γὰρ ἐξεπίσταμαιὁμιλίας κάτοπτρον, εἴδωλον σκιᾶςδοκοῦντας εἶναι κάρτα πρευμενεῖς ἐμοί.μόνος δʼ Ὀδυσσεύς, ὅσπερ οὐχ ἑκὼν ἔπλει,ζευχθεὶς ἕτοιμος ἦν ἐμοὶ σειραφόρος·εἴτʼ οὖν θανόντος εἴτε καὶ ζῶντος πέρι λέγω.τὰ δʼ ἄλλα πρὸς πόλιν τε καὶ θεοὺςκοινοὺς ἀγῶνας θέντες ἐν πανηγύρειβουλευσόμεσθα. καὶ τὸ μὲν καλῶς ἔχονὅπως χρονίζον εὖ μενεῖ βουλευτέον·ὅτῳ δὲ καὶ δεῖ φαρμάκων παιωνίων,ἤτοι κέαντες ἢ τεμόντες εὐφρόνωςπειρασόμεσθα πῆμʼ ἀποστρέψαι νόσου.νῦν δʼ ἐς μέλαθρα καὶ δόμους ἐφεστίουςἐλθὼν θεοῖσι πρῶτα δεξιώσομαι,οἵπερ πρόσω πέμψαντες ἤγαγον πάλιν.νίκη δʼ ἐπείπερ ἕσπετʼ, ἐμπέδως μένοι.Κλυταιμήστρα:ἄνδρες πολῖται, πρέσβος Ἀργείων τόδε,οὐκ αἰσχυνοῦμαι τοὺς φιλάνορας τρόπουςλέξαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς· ἐν χρόνῳ δʼ ἀποφθίνειτὸ τάρβος ἀνθρώποισιν. οὐκ ἄλλων πάραμαθοῦσʼ, ἐμαυτῆς δύσφορον λέξω βίοντοσόνδʼ ὅσον περ οὗτος ἦν ὑπʼ Ἰλίῳ.τὸ μὲν γυναῖκα πρῶτον ἄρσενος δίχαἧσθαι δόμοις ἔρημον ἔκπαγλον κακόν,πολλὰς κλύουσαν κληδόνας παλιγκότους·καὶ τὸν μὲν ἥκειν, τὸν δʼ ἐπεσφέρειν κακοῦκάκιον ἄλλο πῆμα, λάσκοντας δόμοις.καὶ τραυμάτων μὲν εἰ τόσων ἐτύγχανενἀνὴρ ὅδʼ, ὡς πρὸς οἶκον ὠχετεύετοφάτις, τέτρηται δικτύου πλέον λέγειν.εἰ δʼ ἦν τεθνηκώς, ὡς ἐπλήθυον λόγοι,τρισώματός τἂν Γηρυὼν ὁ δεύτερος[πολλὴν ἄνωθεν, τὴν κάτω γὰρ οὐ λέγω, ]χθονὸς τρίμοιρον χλαῖναν ἐξηύχει λαβεῖν,ἅπαξ ἑκάστῳ κατθανὼν μορφώματι.τοιῶνδʼ ἕκατι κληδόνων παλιγκότωνπολλὰς ἄνωθεν ἀρτάνας ἐμῆς δέρηςἔλυσαν ἄλλοι πρὸς βίαν λελημμένης.ἐκ τῶνδέ τοι παῖς ἐνθάδʼ οὐ παραστατεῖ,ἐμῶν τε καὶ σῶν κύριος πιστωμάτων,ὡς χρῆν, Ὀρέστης· μηδὲ θαυμάσῃς τόδε.
For he is in the protecting care of our well-intentioned ally, Strophius of Phocis, who warned me of trouble on two scores—your own peril beneath Ilium’s walls, and then the chance that the people in clamorous revolt might overturn the Council, as it is naturalfor men to trample all the more upon the fallen. Truly such an excuse supports no guile.
τρέφει γὰρ αὐτὸν εὐμενὴς δορύξενοςΣτρόφιος ὁ Φωκεύς, ἀμφίλεκτα πήματαἐμοὶ προφωνῶν, τόν θʼ ὑπʼ Ἰλίῳ σέθενκίνδυνον, εἴ τε δημόθρους ἀναρχίαβουλὴν καταρρίψειεν, ὥστε σύγγονονβροτοῖσι τὸν πεσόντα λακτίσαι πλέον.τοιάδε μέντοι σκῆψις οὐ δόλον φέρει.
As for myself, the welling fountains of my tears are utterly dried up—not a drop remains. In night-long vigils my eyes are sorewith weeping for the beacon-lights set for you but always neglected. The faint whir of the buzzing gnat often waked me from dreams in which I beheld more disasters to you than the time of sleep could have compassed.
Κλυταιμήστρα:ἔμοιγε μὲν δὴ κλαυμάτων ἐπίσσυτοιπηγαὶ κατεσβήκασιν, οὐδʼ ἔνι σταγών.ἐν ὀψικοίτοις δʼ ὄμμασιν βλάβας ἔχωτὰς ἀμφί σοι κλαίουσα λαμπτηρουχίαςἀτημελήτους αἰέν. ἐν δʼ ὀνείρασινλεπταῖς ὑπαὶ κώνωπος ἐξηγειρόμηνῥιπαῖσι θωύσσοντος, ἀμφί σοι πάθηὁρῶσα πλείω τοῦ ξυνεύδοντος χρόνου.
But now, having born all this, my heart freed from its anxiety, I would hail my husband here as the watchdog of the fold, the savior forestay of the ship, firm-based pillar of the lofty roof, only-begotten son of a father, or land glimpsed by men at sea beyond their hope,dawn most fair to look upon after storm, the gushing stream to thirsty wayfarer—sweet is it to escape all stress of need. Such truly are the greetings of which I deem him worthy. But let envy be far removed, since many were the illswe endured before. And now, I pray you, my dear lord, dismount from your car, but do not set on common earth the foot, my King, that has trampled upon Ilium. To her attendants Why this loitering, women, to whom I have assigned the task to strew with tapestries the place where he shall go?
νῦν ταῦτα πάντα τλᾶσʼ ἀπενθήτῳ φρενὶλέγοιμʼ ἂν ἄνδρα τόνδε τῶν σταθμῶν κύνα,σωτῆρα ναὸς πρότονον, ὑψηλῆς στέγηςστῦλον ποδήρη, μονογενὲς τέκνον πατρί,καὶ γῆν φανεῖσαν ναυτίλοις παρʼ ἐλπίδα,κάλλιστον ἦμαρ εἰσιδεῖν ἐκ χείματος,ὁδοιπόρῳ διψῶντι πηγαῖον ῥέος·τερπνὸν δὲ τἀναγκαῖον ἐκφυγεῖν ἅπαν.τοιοῖσδέ τοί νιν ἀξιῶ προσφθέγμασιν.φθόνος δʼ ἀπέστω· πολλὰ γὰρ τὰ πρὶν κακὰἠνειχόμεσθα. νῦν δέ μοι, φίλον κάρα,ἔκβαινʼ ἀπήνης τῆσδε, μὴ χαμαὶ τιθεὶςτὸν σὸν πόδʼ, ὦναξ, Ἰλίου πορθήτορα.δμῳαί, τί μέλλεθʼ, αἷς ἐπέσταλται τέλοςπέδον κελεύθου στρωννύναι πετάσμασιν;
Quick! With purple let his path be strewn, that Justice may usher him into a home he never hoped to see. The rest my unslumbering vigilance shall order duly, if it please god, even as is ordained.
εὐθὺς γενέσθω πορφυρόστρωτος πόροςἐς δῶμʼ ἄελπτον ὡς ἂν ἡγῆται δίκη.τὰ δʼ ἄλλα φροντὶς οὐχ ὕπνῳ νικωμένηθήσει δικαίως σὺν θεοῖς εἱμαρμένα.
Agamemnon:Offspring of Leda, guardian of my house,your speech fits well with my absence; for you have drawn it out to ample length. But becoming praise—this prize should rightly proceed from other lips. For the rest, pamper me not as if I were a woman, nor, like some barbarian,grovel before me with widemouthed acclaim; and do not draw down envy upon my path by strewing it with tapestries. It is the gods we must honor thus; but it is not possible for a mortal to tread upon embroidered fineries without fear.
Ἀγαμέμνων:Λήδας γένεθλον, δωμάτων ἐμῶν φύλαξ,ἀπουσίᾳ μὲν εἶπας εἰκότως ἐμῇ·μακρὰν γὰρ ἐξέτεινας· ἀλλʼ ἐναισίμωςαἰνεῖν, παρʼ ἄλλων χρὴ τόδʼ ἔρχεσθαι γέρας·καὶ τἄλλα μὴ γυναικὸς ἐν τρόποις ἐμὲἅβρυνε, μηδὲ βαρβάρου φωτὸς δίκηνχαμαιπετὲς βόαμα προσχάνῃς ἐμοί,μηδʼ εἵμασι στρώσασʼ ἐπίφθονον πόροντίθει· θεούς τοι τοῖσδε τιμαλφεῖν χρεών·ἐν ποικίλοις δὲ θνητὸν ὄντα κάλλεσινβαίνειν ἐμοὶ μὲν οὐδαμῶς ἄνευ φόβου.
I tell you to revere me not as a god, but as a man. Footmats and embroideries sound diverse in the voice of Rumor; to think no folly is the best gift of the gods. Only when man’s life comes to its end in prosperity dare we pronounce him happy;
λέγω κατʼ ἄνδρα, μὴ θεόν, σέβειν ἐμέ.χωρὶς ποδοψήστρων τε καὶ τῶν ποικίλωνκληδὼν ἀυτεῖ· καὶ τὸ μὴ κακῶς φρονεῖνθεοῦ μέγιστον δῶρον. ὀλβίσαι δὲ χρὴβίον τελευτήσαντʼ ἐν εὐεστοῖ φίλῃ.
and if I may act in all things as I do now, I have good confidence.
εἰ πάντα δʼ ὣς πράσσοιμʼ ἄν, εὐθαρσὴς ἐγώ.
Clytaemestra:Come now, tell me this, in accordance with your mind.
Κλυταιμήστρα:καὶ μὴν τόδʼ εἰπὲ μὴ παρὰ γνώμην ἐμοί.
Agamemnon:Purpose! Be assured that I shall not corrupt my mind.
Ἀγαμέμνων:γνώμην μὲν ἴσθι μὴ διαφθεροῦντʼ ἐμέ.
Clytaemestra:You would in fear have vowed to the gods to act thus.
Κλυταιμήστρα:ηὔξω θεοῖς δείσας ἂν ὧδʼ ἔρδειν τάδε.
Agamemnon:If someone with full knowledge had pronounced this word.
Ἀγαμέμνων:εἴπερ τις, εἰδώς γʼ εὖ τόδʼ ἐξεῖπον τέλος.
Clytaemestra:What do you suppose that Priam would have done, if he had achieved your triumph?
Κλυταιμήστρα:τί δʼ ἂν δοκεῖ σοι Πρίαμος, εἰ τάδʼ ἤνυσεν;
Agamemnon:He would have set foot upon the embroideries, I certainly believe.
Ἀγαμέμνων:ἐν ποικίλοις ἂν κάρτα μοι βῆναι δοκεῖ.
Clytaemestra:Then do not be be ashamed of mortal reproach.
Κλυταιμήστρα:μή νυν τὸν ἀνθρώπειον αἰδεσθῇς ψόγον.
Agamemnon:And yet a people’s voice is a mighty power.
Ἀγαμέμνων:φήμη γε μέντοι δημόθρους μέγα σθένει.
Clytaemestra:True, yet he who is unenvied is unenviable.
Κλυταιμήστρα:ὁ δʼ ἀφθόνητός γʼ οὐκ ἐπίζηλος πέλει.
Agamemnon:Surely it is not woman’s part to long for fighting.
Ἀγαμέμνων:οὔτοι γυναικός ἐστιν ἱμείρειν μάχης.
Clytaemestra:True, but it is right for the happy victor to yield the victory.
Κλυταιμήστρα:τοῖς δʼ ὀλβίοις γε καὶ τὸ νικᾶσθαι πρέπει.
Agamemnon:What? is this the kind of victory in strife that you prize?
Ἀγαμέμνων:ἦ καὶ σὺ νίκην τήνδε δήριος τίεις;
Clytaemestra:Oh yield! Yet of your own free will entrust the victory to me.
Κλυταιμήστρα:πιθοῦ· κράτος μέντοι πάρες γʼ ἑκὼν ἐμοί.
Agamemnon:Well, if you will have your way,quick, let some one loose my sandals, which, slavelike, serve the treading of my foot! As I walk upon these purple vestments may I not be struck from afar by any glance of the gods’ jealous eye. A terrible shame it is for one’s foot to mar the resources of the house by wasting wealth and costly woven work.
Ἀγαμέμνων:ἀλλʼ εἰ δοκεῖ σοι ταῦθʼ, ὑπαί τις ἀρβύλαςλύοι τάχος, πρόδουλον ἔμβασιν ποδός.καὶ τοῖσδέ μʼ ἐμβαίνονθʼ ἁλουργέσιν θεῶνμή τις πρόσωθεν ὄμματος βάλοι φθόνος.πολλὴ γὰρ αἰδὼς δωματοφθορεῖν ποσὶνφθείροντα πλοῦτον ἀργυρωνήτους θʼ ὑφάς.
So much for this. This foreign girl receive into the house with kindness. A god from afar looks graciously upon a gentle master; for no one freely takes the yoke of slavery. But she,the choicest flower of rich treasure, has followed in my train, my army’s gift. Since I have been forced to obey you and must listen to you in this, I will tread upon a purple pathway as I pass to my palace halls.
τούτων μὲν οὕτω· τὴν ξένην δὲ πρευμενῶςτήνδʼ ἐσκόμιζε· τὸν κρατοῦντα μαλθακῶςθεὸς πρόσωθεν εὐμενῶς προσδέρκεται.ἑκὼν γὰρ οὐδεὶς δουλίῳ χρῆται ζυγῷ.αὕτη δὲ πολλῶν χρημάτων ἐξαίρετονἄνθος, στρατοῦ δώρημʼ, ἐμοὶ ξυνέσπετο.ἐπεὶ δʼ ἀκούειν σοῦ κατέστραμμαι τάδε,εἶμʼ ἐς δόμων μέλαθρα πορφύρας πατῶν.
Clytaemestra:There is the sea (and who shall drain it dry?) producing stain of abundant purple, costly as silverand ever fresh, with which to dye our clothes; and of these our house, through the gods, has ample store; it knows no poverty. Vestments enough I would have devoted to be trampled underfoot had it been so ordered in the seat of oracleswhen I was devising a ransom for your life. For if the root still lives, leaves come again to the house and spread their over-reaching shade against the scorching dog star; so, now that you have come to hearth and home, you show that warmth has come in wintertime;
Κλυταιμήστρα:ἔστιν θάλασσα, τίς δέ νιν κατασβέσει;τρέφουσα πολλῆς πορφύρας ἰσάργυρονκηκῖδα παγκαίνιστον, εἱμάτων βαφάς.οἶκος δʼ ὑπάρχει τῶνδε σὺν θεοῖς ἅλιςἔχειν· πένεσθαι δʼ οὐκ ἐπίσταται δόμος.πολλῶν πατησμὸν δʼ εἱμάτων ἂν ηὐξάμην,δόμοισι προυνεχθέντος ἐν χρηστηρίοις,ψυχῆς κόμιστρα τῆσδε μηχανωμένῃ.ῥίζης γὰρ οὔσης φυλλὰς ἵκετʼ ἐς δόμους,σκιὰν ὑπερτείνασα σειρίου κυνός.καὶ σοῦ μολόντος δωματῖτιν ἑστίαν,θάλπος μὲν ἐν χειμῶνι σημαίνεις μολόν·
and again, when Zeus makes wine from the bitter grape, then immediately there is coolness in the house when its rightful lord occupies his halls. As Agamemnon enters the palace O Zeus, Zeus, you who bring things to fulfilment, fulfill my prayers! May you see to that which you mean to fulfill! ExitChorus:Why does this terror so persistently hover standing before my prophetic soul? Why does my song, unbidden and unfed, chant strains of augury? Why does assuring confidence not sit on my heart’s throneand spurn the terror like an uninterpretable dream? But Time has collected the sands of the shore upon the cables cast thereonwhen the shipborn army sped forth for Ilium.
ὅταν δὲ τεύχῃ Ζεὺς ἀπʼ ὄμφακος πικρᾶςοἶνον, τότʼ ἤδη ψῦχος ἐν δόμοις πέλει,ἀνδρὸς τελείου δῶμʼ ἐπιστρωφωμένου.Ζεῦ, Ζεῦ τέλειε, τὰς ἐμὰς εὐχὰς τέλει·μέλοι δέ τοι σοὶ τῶν περ ἂν μέλλῃς τελεῖν.Χορός:τίπτε μοι τόδʼ ἐμπέδωςδεῖμα προστατήριονκαρδίας τερασκόπου ποτᾶται,μαντιπολεῖ δʼ ἀκέλευστος ἄμισθος ἀοιδά,οὐδʼ ἀποπτύσαι δίκανδυσκρίτων ὀνειράτωνθάρσος εὐπειθὲς ἵ-ζει φρενὸς φίλον θρόνον;χρόνος δʼ ἐπὶ πρυμνησίων ξυνεμβολαῖςψαμμίʼ ἀκτᾶς παρή-μησεν, εὖθʼ ὑπʼ Ἴλιονὦρτο ναυβάτας στρατός.
Chorus:Of their coming home I learn with my own eyes and need no other witness.
Χορός:πεύθομαι δʼ ἀπʼ ὀμμάτωννόστον, αὐτόμαρτυς ὤν·
Yet still my soul within me, self-inspired, intones the lyreless dirge of the avenging spirit, and cannot wholly win its customary confidence of hope.
τὸν δʼ ἄνευ λύρας ὅμως ὑμνῳδεῖθρῆνον Ἐρινύος αὐτοδίδακτος ἔσωθενθυμός, οὐ τὸ πᾶν ἔχωνἐλπίδος φίλον θράσος.
Not for nothing is my bosom disquieted as my heart throbs against my justly fearful breast in eddying tides that warn of some event. But I pray that my expectation may fall out falseand not come to fulfilment.
σπλάγχνα δʼ οὔτοι ματᾴ-ζει πρὸς ἐνδίκοις φρεσὶντελεσφόροις δίναις κυκώμενον κέαρ.εὔχομαι δʼ ἐξ ἐμᾶςἐλπίδος ψύθη πεσεῖνἐς τὸ μὴ τελεσφόρον.
Chorus:Truly blooming health does not rest content within its due bounds; for disease ever presses close against it, its neighbor with a common wall.
Χορός:μάλα γέ τοι τὸ μεγάλας ὑγιείαςἀκόρεστον τέρμα· νόσος γάργείτων ὁμότοιχος ἐρείδει.
So human fortune, when holding onward in straight course strikes upon a hidden reef. And yet, if with a well-measured throw, caution heaves overboarda portion of the gathered wealth, the whole house, with woe overladen, does not founder nor engulf the hull. Truly the generous gift from Zeus,rich and derived from yearly furrows, makes an end of the plague of famine.
καὶ πότμος εὐθυπορῶν…ἀνδρὸς ἔπαισεν ἄφαντον ἕρμα.καὶ πρὸ μέν τι χρημάτωνκτησίων ὄκνος βαλὼνσφενδόνας ἀπʼ εὐμέτρου,οὐκ ἔδυ πρόπας δόμοςπημονᾶς γέμων ἄγαν,οὐδʼ ἐπόντισε σκάφος.πολλά τοι δόσις ἐκ Διὸς ἀμφιλα-φής τε καὶ ἐξ ἀλόκων ἐπετειᾶννῆστιν ὤλεσεν νόσον.
Chorus:But a man’s blood, once it has first fallen by murder to earthin a dark tide—who by magic spell shall call it back? Even he who possessed the skill to raise from the dead—did not Zeus make an end of him as warning?
Χορός:τὸ δʼ ἐπὶ γᾶν πεσὸν ἅπαξ θανάσιμονπρόπαρ ἀνδρὸς μέλαν αἷμα τίς ἂνπάλιν ἀγκαλέσαιτʼ ἐπαείδων;οὐδὲ τὸν ὀρθοδαῆτῶν φθιμένων ἀνάγεινΖεὺς ἀπέπαυσεν ἐπʼ εὐλαβείᾳ;
And unless one fate ordained of the gods restrains another fate from winning the advantage, my heart would outstrip my tongue and pour forth its fears;
εἰ δὲ μὴ τεταγμέναμοῖρα μοῖραν ἐκ θεῶνεἶργε μὴ πλέον φέρειν,προφθάσασα καρδίαγλῶσσαν ἂν τάδʼ ἐξέχει.
but, as it is, it mutters only in the dark, distressed and hopeless ever to unravel anything in time when my soul’s aflame.Enter ClytaemestraClytaemestra:Get inside, you too, Cassandra; since not unkindly has Zeus appointed you to share the holy water of a house where you may take your stand, with many another slave, at the altar of the god who guards its wealth. Get down from the car and do not be too proud;
νῦν δʼ ὑπὸ σκότῳ βρέμειθυμαλγής τε καὶ οὐδὲν ἐπελπομέν-α ποτὲ καίριον ἐκτολυπεύσεινζωπυρουμένας φρενός.Κλυταιμήστρα:εἴσω κομίζου καὶ σύ, Κασάνδραν λέγω,ἐπεί σʼ ἔθηκε Ζεὺς ἀμηνίτως δόμοιςκοινωνὸν εἶναι χερνίβων, πολλῶν μέταδούλων σταθεῖσαν κτησίου βωμοῦ πέλας·ἔκβαινʼ ἀπήνης τῆσδε, μηδʼ ὑπερφρόνει.
for even Alcmene’s son, men say, once endured to be sold and eat the bread of slavery. But if such fortune should of necessity fall to the lot of any, there is good cause for thankfulness in having masters of ancient wealth; for they who, beyond their hope, have reaped a rich harvest of possessions,are cruel to their slaves in every way, even exceeding due measure. You have from us such usage as custom warrants.
καὶ παῖδα γάρ τοί φασιν Ἀλκμήνης ποτὲπραθέντα τλῆναι δουλίας μάζης τυχεῖν.εἰ δʼ οὖν ἀνάγκη τῆσδʼ ἐπιρρέποι τύχης,ἀρχαιοπλούτων δεσποτῶν πολλὴ χάρις.οἳ δʼ οὔποτʼ ἐλπίσαντες ἤμησαν καλῶς,ὠμοί τε δούλοις πάντα καὶ παρὰ στάθμην.ἔχεις παρʼ ἡμῶν οἷά περ νομίζεται.
Chorus:It is to you she has been speaking and clearly. Since you are in the toils of destiny, perhaps you will obey, if you are so inclined; but perhaps you will not.
Χορός:σοί τοι λέγουσα παύεται σαφῆ λόγον.ἐντός δʼ ἂν οὖσα μορσίμων ἀγρευμάτωνπείθοιʼ ἄν, εἰ πείθοιʼ· ἀπειθοίης δʼ ἴσως.
Clytaemestra:Well, if her language is not strange and foreign, even as a swallow’s, I must speak within her comprehension and move her to comply.
Κλυταιμήστρα:ἀλλʼ εἴπερ ἐστι μὴ χελιδόνος δίκηνἀγνῶτα φωνὴν βάρβαρον κεκτημένη,ἔσω φρενῶν λέγουσα πείθω νιν λόγῳ.
Chorus:Go with her. With things as they now stand, she gives you the best. Do as she bids and leave your seat in the car.
Χορός:ἕπου. τὰ λῷστα τῶν παρεστώτων λέγει.πιθοῦ λιποῦσα τόνδʼ ἁμαξήρη θρόνον.
Clytaemestra:I have no time to waste with this woman here outside; for already the victims stand by the central hearth awaiting the sacrifice—a joy we never expected to be ours. As for you, if you will take any part, make no delay.
Κλυταιμήστρα:οὔτοι θυραίᾳ τῇδʼ ἐμοὶ σχολὴ πάρατρίβειν· τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἑστίας μεσομφάλουἕστηκεν ἤδη μῆλα πρὸς σφαγὰς πάρος,ὡς οὔποτʼ ἐλπίσασι τήνδʼ ἕξειν χάριν.σὺ δʼ εἴ τι δράσεις τῶνδε, μὴ σχολὴν τίθει.
But if, failing to understand, you do not catch my meaning, then, instead of speech, make a sign with your barbarian hand.
εἰ δʼ ἀξυνήμων οὖσα μὴ δέχῃ λόγον,σὺ δʼ ἀντὶ φωνῆς φράζε καρβάνῳ χερί.
Chorus:It is an interpreter and a plain one that the stranger seems to need. She bears herself like a wild creature newly captured.
Χορός:ἑρμηνέως ἔοικεν ἡ ξένη τοροῦδεῖσθαι· τρόπος δὲ θηρὸς ὡς νεαιρέτου.
Clytaemestra:No, she is mad and listens to her wild mood,since she has come here from a newly captured city, and does not know how to tolerate the bit until she has foamed away her fretfulness in blood. No! I will waste no more words upon her to be insulted thus. Exit
Κλυταιμήστρα:ἦ μαίνεταί γε καὶ κακῶν κλύει φρενῶν,ἥτις λιποῦσα μὲν πόλιν νεαίρετονἥκει, χαλινὸν δʼ οὐκ ἐπίσταται φέρειν,πρὶν αἱματηρὸν ἐξαφρίζεσθαι μένος.οὐ μὴν πλέω ῥίψασʼ ἀτιμασθήσομαι.
Chorus:But I will not be angry, since I pity her.
Χορός:ἐγὼ δʼ, ἐποικτίρω γάρ, οὐ θυμώσομαι.
Come, unhappy one, leave the car; yield to necessity and take upon you this novel yoke.
ἴθʼ, ὦ τάλαινα, τόνδʼ ἐρημώσασʼ ὄχον,εἴκουσʼ ἀνάγκῃ τῇδε καίνισον ζυγόν.
Cassandra:Woe, woe, woe! O Apollo, O Apollo!
Κασάνδρα:ὀτοτοτοῖ πόποι δᾶ.Ὦπολλον Ὦπολλον.
Chorus:Wherefore your cry of “woe” in Loxias’ name?
Χορός:τί ταῦτʼ ἀνωτότυξας ἀμφὶ Λοξίου;
He is not the kind of god that has to do with mourners.
οὐ γὰρ τοιοῦτος ὥστε θρηνητοῦ τυχεῖν.
Cassandra:Woe, woe, woe! O Apollo, O Apollo!
Κασάνδρα:ὀτοτοτοῖ πόποι δᾶ.
Chorus:Once more with ill-omened words she cries to the god who should not be present at times of lamentation.
Ὦπολλον Ὦπολλον.Χορός:ἡ δʼ αὖτε δυσφημοῦσα τὸν θεὸν καλεῖοὐδὲν προσήκοντʼ ἐν γόοις παραστατεῖν.
Cassandra:Apollo, Apollo! God of the Ways, my destroyer! For you have destroyed me—and utterly—this second time.
Κασάνδρα:Ἄπολλον Ἄπολλονἀγυιᾶτʼ, ἀπόλλων ἐμός.ἀπώλεσας γὰρ οὐ μόλις τὸ δεύτερον.Χορός:χρήσειν ἔοικεν ἀμφὶ τῶν αὑτῆς κακῶν.
Chorus:I think that she is about to prophesy about her own miseries. The divine gift still abides even in the soul of one enslaved.Cassandra:Apollo, Apollo! God of the Ways, my destroyer! Ah, what way is this that you have brought me! To what a house!
μένει τὸ θεῖον δουλίᾳ περ ἐν φρενί.Κασάνδρα:Ἄπολλον Ἄπολλονἀγυιᾶτʼ, ἀπόλλων ἐμός.ἆ ποῖ ποτʼ ἤγαγές με; πρὸς ποίαν στέγην;
Chorus:To that of Atreus’ sons. If you do not perceive this, I’ll tell it to you. And you shall not say that it is untrue.
Χορός:πρὸς τὴν Ἀτρειδῶν· εἰ σὺ μὴ τόδʼ ἐννοεῖς,ἐγὼ λέγω σοι· καὶ τάδʼ οὐκ ἐρεῖς ψύθη.
Cassandra:No, no, rather to a god-hating house, a house that knows many a horrible butchery of kin, a slaughter-house of men and a floor swimming with blood.
Κασάνδρα:μισόθεον μὲν οὖν, πολλὰ συνίστορααὐτόφονα κακὰ καρατόμα,ἀνδροσφαγεῖον καὶ πεδορραντήριον.
Chorus:The stranger seems keen-scented as a hound; she is on the trail where she will discover blood.
Χορός:ἔοικεν εὔρις ἡ ξένη κυνὸς δίκηνεἶναι, ματεύει δʼ ὧν ἀνευρήσει φόνον.
Cassandra:Here is the evidence in which I put my trust! Behold those babies bewailing their own butchery and their roasted flesh eaten by their father!
Κασάνδρα:μαρτυρίοισι γὰρ τοῖσδʼ ἐπιπείθομαι·κλαιόμενα τάδε βρέφη σφαγάς,ὀπτάς τε σάρκας πρὸς πατρὸς βεβρωμένας.
Chorus:Your fame to read the future had reached our ears; but we have no need of prophets here.
Χορός:τὸ μὲν κλέος σοῦ μαντικὸν πεπυσμένοιἦμεν· προφήτας δʼ οὔτινας ματεύομεν.
Cassandra:Alas, what can she be planning? What is this fresh woe she contrives here within, what monstrous, monstrous horror, beyond love’s enduring, beyond all remedy? And help stands far away!
Κασάνδρα:ἰὼ πόποι, τί ποτε μήδεται;τί τόδε νέον ἄχος μέγαμέγʼ ἐν δόμοισι τοῖσδε μήδεται κακὸνἄφερτον φίλοισιν, δυσίατον; ἀλκὰ δʼἑκὰς ἀποστατεῖ.
Chorus:These prophesyings pass my comprehension; but those I understood—the whole city rings with them.
Χορός:τούτων ἄιδρίς εἰμι τῶν μαντευμάτων.ἐκεῖνα δʼ ἔγνων· πᾶσα γὰρ πόλις βοᾷ.
Cassandra:Ah, damned woman, will you do this thing? Your husband, the partner of your bed, when you have cheered him with the bath, will you—how shall I tell the end?
Κασάνδρα:ἰὼ τάλαινα, τόδε γὰρ τελεῖς,τὸν ὁμοδέμνιον πόσινλουτροῖσι φαιδρύνασα—πῶς φράσω τέλος;
Soon it will be done. Now this hand, now that, she stretches forth!
τάχος γὰρ τόδʼ ἔσται· προτείνει δὲ χεὶρ ἐκχερὸς ὀρέγματα.
Chorus:Not yet do I comprehend; for now, after riddles, I am bewildered by dark oracles.
Χορός:οὔπω ξυνῆκα· νῦν γὰρ ἐξ αἰνιγμάτωνἐπαργέμοισι θεσφάτοις ἀμηχανῶ.
Cassandra:Ah! Ah! What apparition is this?
Κασάνδρα:ἒ ἔ, παπαῖ παπαῖ, τί τόδε φαίνεται;
Is it a net of death? No, it is a snare that shares his bed, that shares the guilt of murder. Let the fatal pack, insatiable against the race, raise a shout of jubilance over a victim accursed!
ἦ δίκτυόν τί γʼ Ἅιδου;ἀλλʼ ἄρκυς ἡ ξύνευνος, ἡ ξυναιτίαφόνου. στάσις δʼ ἀκόρετος γένεικατολολυξάτω θύματος λευσίμου.
Chorus:What Spirit of Vengeance is this that you bidraise its voice over this house? Your words do not cheer me. Back to my heart surge the drops of my pallid blood, even as when they drip from a mortal wound, ebbing away as life’s beams sink low; and death comes speedily.
Χορός:ποίαν Ἐρινὺν τήνδε δώμασιν κέλῃἐπορθιάζειν; οὔ με φαιδρύνει λόγος.ἐπὶ δὲ καρδίαν ἔδραμε κροκοβαφὴςσταγών, ἅτε καιρία πτώσιμοςξυνανύτει βίου δύντος αὐγαῖς·ταχεῖα δʼ ἄτα πέλει.
Cassandra:Ah, ah, see there, see there! Keep the bull from his mate! She has caught him in the robe and gores him with the crafty device of her black horn! He falls in a vessel of water! It is of doom wrought by guile in a murderous bath that I am telling you.
Κασάνδρα:ἆ ἆ, ἰδοὺ ἰδού· ἄπεχε τῆς βοὸςτὸν ταῦρον· ἐν πέπλοισιμελαγκέρῳ λαβοῦσα μηχανήματιτύπτει· πίτνει δʼ ⟨ἐν⟩ ἐνύδρῳ τεύχει.δολοφόνου λέβητος τύχαν σοι λέγω.
Chorus:I cannot boast that I am a keen judge of prophecies; but these, I think, spell some evil. But from prophecies what word of good ever comes to mortals? Through terms of evil their wordy artsbring men to know fear chanted in prophetic strains.
Χορός:οὐ κομπάσαιμʼ ἂν θεσφάτων γνώμων ἄκροςεἶναι, κακῷ δέ τῳ προσεικάζω τάδε.ἀπὸ δὲ θεσφάτων τίς ἀγαθὰ φάτιςβροτοῖς τέλλεται; κακῶν γὰρ διαὶπολυεπεῖς τέχναι θεσπιῳδὸνφόβον φέρουσιν μαθεῖν.
Cassandra:Alas, alas, the sorrow of my ill-starred doom! For it is my own affliction, crowning the cup, that I bewail. Ah, to what end did you bring me here, unhappy as I am? For nothing except to die—and not alone. What else?
Κασάνδρα:ἰὼ ἰὼ ταλαίνας κακόποτμοι τύχαι·τὸ γὰρ ἐμὸν θροῶ πάθος ἐπεγχύδαν.ποῖ δή με δεῦρο τὴν τάλαιναν ἤγαγες;οὐδέν ποτʼ εἰ μὴ ξυνθανουμένην. τί γάρ;
Chorus:Frenzied in soul you are, by some god possessed, and you wail in wild strains your own fate, like that brown bird that never ceases making lament (ah me!), and in the misery of her heart moans Itys, Itys,throughout all her days abounding in sorrow, the nightingale.
Χορός:φρενομανής τις εἶ θεοφόρητος, ἀμ-φὶ δʼ αὑτᾶς θροεῖςνόμον ἄνομον, οἷά τις ξουθὰἀκόρετος βοᾶς, φεῦ, ταλαίναις φρεσίνἼτυν Ἴτυν στένουσʼ ἀμφιθαλῆ κακοῖςἀηδὼν βίον.
Cassandra:Ah, fate of the clear-voiced nightingale! The gods clothed her in a winged form and gave to her a sweet life without tears. But for me waits destruction by the two-edged sword.
Κασάνδρα:ἰὼ ἰὼ λιγείας μόρον ἀηδόνος·περέβαλον γάρ οἱ πτεροφόρον δέμαςθεοὶ γλυκύν τʼ αἰῶνα κλαυμάτων ἄτερ·ἐμοὶ δὲ μίμνει σχισμὸς ἀμφήκει δορί.
Chorus:From where come these vain pangs of prophecy that assail you? And why do you mold to melody these terrors with dismal cries blended with piercing strains? How do you know the bounds of the path of yourill-boding prophecy?
Χορός:πόθεν ἐπισσύτους θεοφόρους [τʼ] ἔχειςματαίους δύας,τὰ δʼ ἐπίφοβα δυσφάτῳ κλαγγᾷμελοτυπεῖς ὁμοῦ τʼ ὀρθίοις ἐν νόμοις;πόθεν ὅρους ἔχεις θεσπεσίας ὁδοῦκακορρήμονας;
Cassandra:Ah, the marriage, the marriage of Paris, that destroyed his friends! Ah me, Scamander, my native stream! Upon your banks in bygone days, unhappy maid, was I nurtured with fostering care;
Κασάνδρα:ἰὼ γάμοι γάμοι Πάριδος ὀλέθριοι φίλων.ἰὼ Σκαμάνδρου πάτριον ποτόν.τότε μὲν ἀμφὶ σὰς ἀϊόνας τάλαινʼἠνυτόμαν τροφαῖς·
but now by Cocytus and the banks of Acheron, I think, I soon must chant my prophecies.
νῦν δʼ ἀμφὶ Κωκυτόν τε κἀχερουσίουςὄχθας ἔοικα θεσπιῳδήσειν τάχα.